The IBSA Meeting, 2020

The tripartite forum consisting of India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) met virtually in September 2020 and discussed many pressing issues including an emphasis on ‘Comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council.’ The IBSA Foreign meeting was attended by foreign ministers of all 3 members and they issued a joint statement on the ‘Reform of the UN Security Council’, as a common endeavour of the Global South. The Ministers emphasised the need for the international community to redouble efforts and bolster commitment to not only reform of the UN Security Council but also towards the expansion of its membership by including representation from emerging and developing countries.  
 
What is IBSA? It was formed in 2003 by the Brasilia declaration and it’s a ‘South-South’ grouping of like-minded countries. The countries have since agreed to cooperate on 3 fronts:
·Reform of global institutions of political and economic governance
·Collaboration on projects for common benefit
·IBSA Fund – which provides financial support for South-owned, South-led projects across the developing world, with a focus on the least developed. 
 
Highlights of the 2020 meeting:
·Agreed on issues such as peace, security, climate change, countering terrorism, multilateral trading system, non-proliferation issues, disarmament and South-South Cooperation. 
·They also agreed to renew their commitment towards United Nations Security Council.
·The leaders also agreed to cooperate with international organisations such as African Union Peace and Security Council, United Nations, etc.
·Ezulwini Consensus - It is a position on international relations agreed by African Union. The consensus calls for representative and democratic Security Council, where Africa shall be represented just like other regions of the world.
·Expressing dissatisfaction on the transparency and frustratingly slow pace of reforms in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations process, the 3 ministers insisted for a move towards a result-oriented process, with provision for substantive negotiations based on a single comprehensive text, in a formal setting.
·The Ministers shared their experience on Covid-19 pandemic situation and appreciated the work done by the IBSA Fund for Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger. 



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